“Never heard of these til recently, do they work well?”
Incredibly well. The steripen is awesome. I know of no quicker way to filter.

“I tend not to invest in things that result in people coming to me for help when the item fails on the trail.”

These are old steripens that have now been improved for years --- if bought at a legitimate store. The buttons are easy to push.
Also, people fail to read directions. The most common error is people push the button when the steripen is IN the water. The button is to be pushed BEFORE water insertion.

“The Steripen, spare batteries and a wide-mouthed stirring bottle can actually weigh more than does the Sawyer Squeeze.”

It depends on priorities. If you’re tired of screwing, unscrewing, connecting, squeezing, disconnecting, then steripen is easiest. Also, if you let the Squeeze dry out, it takes considerable amount of time just to get it going like it once did--- which is almost impossible on the trail. Keep the Squeeze damp and its new weight (4oz) is heavier than a steripen (3.6oz w/ batteries). Also the steripen will disable viruses and deals with icy water with no problems!

“ the Steripen requires you to kneel on the ground and stir water one liter at a time.”

I guess you could do that. Lately I’ve been walking and stirring.

“When something electronic goes sour there is not much that can be done to fix it.”

This is true for mechanical filters also. They can go sour. Bring chlorine dioxide tablets for backup; it’s only a few grams--- just got to wait 30 minutes to 4 hours.

I carry my opti on my belt and the bag in the side of the backpack. So it’s extremely easy to stop, fill, stir, and drink every couple of hours. The filter people need time to assemble, reassemble, and dissemble. So for speed, steripen is the fastest. You can even stir while walking! Get those 30 miles in. It feels great.


-The mountains were made for Tevas
-Barry